Catholics and political life

It is not amiss to reflect better on the great responsibility of politicians and legislators in the just ordering of society. For the purpose of this sharing, I would like to focus on the Catholic point of view.

Fundamental to Christianity is the distinction between what belongs to Caesar and what belongs to God (Mt 22:21), in other words, the distinction between Church and state, or, as Vatican Council II puts it, the autonomy of the temporal sphere.

A very important reference point on the subject today is Pope Benedict XVI's encyclical, Deus Caritas Est (28-29). "The just ordering of society and the state is a central responsibility of politics," writes the Holy Father. "Catholic social doctrine... has no intention of giving the Church power over the state. Even less is it an attempt to impose on those who do not share the faith, ways of thinking and modes of conduct proper to faith. Its aim is simply to help purify reason and to contribute, here and now, to the acknowledgment and attainment of what is just."

The encyclical states that it is not the Church's responsibility to make her social teaching prevail in political life. Rather, the Church wishes to help form consciences in political life and to stimulate greater insight into the authentic requirements of justice as well as greater readiness to act accordingly, even when this might involve conflict with situations of personal interest.

"Building a just social and civil order, wherein each person receives what is his or her due, is an essential task, which every generation must take up anew. As a political task, this cannot be the Church's immediate responsibility. Yet, since it is also a most important human responsibility, the Church is duty-bound to offer, through the purification of reason and through ethical formation, her own specific contribution towards understanding the requirements of justice and achieving them politically," says Pope Benedict XVI.

The Holy Father maintains that the Church cannot and must not take upon herself what he describes as the political battle to bring about the most just society possible. "She cannot and must not replace the state. Yet, at the same time, she cannot and must not remain on the sidelines in the fight for justice. She has to play her part through rational argument and she has to reawaken the spiritual energy without which justice, which always demands sacrifice, cannot prevail and prosper. A just society must be the achievement of politics, not of the Church. Yet, the promotion of justice through efforts to bring about openness of mind and will to the demands of the common good is something which concerns the Church deeply."

Stating that the formation of just structures is not directly the duty of the Church but belongs to the world of politics, the sphere of the autonomous use of reason, the Pope adds: "The Church has an indirect duty here in that she is called to contribute to the purification of reason and to the reawakening of those moral forces without which just structures are neither established nor prove effective in the long run. The direct duty to work for a just ordering of society, on the other hand, is proper to the lay faithful. As citizens of the state, they are called to take part in public life in a personal capacity. So they cannot relinquish their participation in the many different economic, social, legislative, administrative and cultural areas, which are intended to promote organically and institutionally the common good. The mission of the lay faithful is therefore to configure social life correctly, respecting its legitimate autonomy and cooperating with other citizens according to their respective competences and fulfilling their own responsibility."

As regards the participation of Catholics in political life, there also exists a Doctrinal Note issued by the Catholic Church's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in 2002, at a time when the Congregation's Prefect was Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger. The document states that while the bishops have the right and the duty to set out the moral principles relating to the social order, "active participation in political parties is reserved to the lay faithful".

By fulfilling their civic duties, guided by a Christian conscience, in conformity with its values, the lay faithful exercise their proper task of infusing the temporal order with Christian values, all the while respecting the nature and rightful autonomy of that order and cooperating with other citizens according to their particular competence and responsibility.

The consequence of this fundamental teaching of the Second Vatican Council is that the lay faithful are never to relinquish their participation in "public life", that is, in the many different economic, social, legislative, administrative and cultural areas, which are intended to promote organically and institutionally the common good. This would include the promotion and defence of goods such as public order and peace, freedom and equality, respect for human life and for the environment, justice and solidarity.

On the level of concrete political action, the document argues that there can generally be a plurality of political parties in which Catholics may exercise - especially through legislative assemblies - their right and duty to contribute to the public life of their country. This arises because of the contingent nature of certain choices regarding the ordering of society, the variety of strategies available for accomplishing or guaranteeing the same fundamental value, the possibility of different interpretations of the basic principles of political theory and the technical complexity of many political problems.

"It should not be confused, however, with an ambiguous pluralism in the choice of moral principles or essential values. The legitimate plurality of temporal options is at the origin of the commitment of Catholics to politics and relates directly to Christian moral and social teaching. It is in the light of this teaching that lay Catholics must assess their participation in political life so as to be sure that it is marked by a coherent responsibility for temporal reality."

The Church recognises that, while democracy is the best expression of the direct participation of citizens in political choices, it succeeds only to the extent that it is based on a correct understanding of the human person. Catholic involvement in political life cannot compromise on this principle for, otherwise, the witness of the Christian faith in the world, as well as the unity and interior coherence of the faithful, would be non-existent. The democratic structures on which the modern state is based would be quite fragile were its foundation not the centrality of the human person. It is respect for the person that makes democratic participation possible.